Friday, December 29, 2006

If you're reading this blog, chances are 50/50 that my princess rant is what drew you here. Peggy Orenstein is a smart gal, although I don't agree with her on every point. But the feeling, the sense of what the heck is happening here is very familiar. I dislike the brat fad. I'm never going to be ok with my children advertising their worst fears about themselves (or mine) on their T-shirts. The feminism argument isn't as tough for me, I guess because my little girls were born already so self-possessed I've never worried about them basing their worth on a man or caving to a man's wishes. I sort of wish they would bend to mine, honestly. A little bit of Snow White would be a nice change, to me.

What do you think about princesses? Can they be good? Is it just merciless marketing to our tender children? Are they teaching our kids to be weak? To believe in something that isn't true? Tell me!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

All servers are up...

So you may not realize that I'm this geeky, but I play a MMORPG. See, that was geeky even saying that, huh? But I do. This one. It's basically a very elaborate version of "let's pretend." And I love it.

So they bring down the servers for "maintenance" every so often, to upgrade content in the make-believe world and to fix problems. They used to call these "patches" but now they call them "updates." Sounds more professional and less like we're in a leaky boat.

There is a website you can check to see when your particular server/world is back up and running. But it's funny the way they do this. It says:All servers are up except for:...and then lists every single one.

Until yours comes off the list, you can't play. So I'm watching this list off and on, thinking I want to play. And I think, I should use this tactic. It's very optimistic. Like, the glass is half-full, you know?

I do not want to invest in penny stocks. No matter what the promised return.

I am not going to transfer money to help someone in Africa who addresses me as "sir" or "friend" or even "friend in Christ".

I like my penis the way it is, i.e. non-existent. I do not want to enlarge it or impress women. I do not care if my friends in the locker room are making fun of me. If they have penises, they should be in a different locker room anyway. Twin pills strike me as especially dangerous.

I do not want to deal with prescription drug services that offer Christmas specials.

I'm not interested in weight loss drugs, herbs or all-natural-proven-celebrity-trusted remedies. Anatrim and Hoodia especially...I want nothing to do with.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Different perspectives, for sure. These two papers have been battling it out for 150 years. Mormon and anti-Mormon have grown into conservative and...well, not as conservative. It's still Utah. And if you're thinking, well, in MY town we only have one paper, not this childish squabbling...

Because they would have been disappointed. I had a post about turkey, and shaped jell-o and a cheese ball. But not a turkey shaped cheese ball. And so, as a gift to them, I give you:The Turkey Shaped Cheese Ball:As you can see, it's just a regular cheese ball, with a turkey face made of cardstock and wheat thin feathers.